Tag Archives: laser

Nike… then adidas… then Nike again! Welbeck has changed boots three times already this season (and he finally scored his first United goal on Saturday)

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UPDATED:

12:09 GMT, 22 October 2012

Danny Welbeck has been at the centre of a tug-of-war between boot giants adidas and Nike.

But the England striker returned to Nike boots for Saturday's 4-2 win against Stoke, when he scored his first goal of the season – and earned rave reviews from Sir Alex Ferguson.

He has alternated between Nike and adidas this season, changing his boot choice three times already. But he now appears to have chosen Nike ahead of their German rivals, Footy-Boots.com reports.

Foot on the ball: Danny Welbeck has changed his boots three times this season. He started with Nike (left), changed to adidas after failing to score (centre) but was back in his favoured Nike on Saturday (right)

They also report that Welbeck has yet
to confirm his tie-up with Nike, although his latest switch tips the
balance in their favour. He has had a four year contract with Nike, but
that didn't stop him from trying out their rivals in a high-profile
England game recently.

Welbeck started the season in the Nike T90 Laser, before switching to the adidas F50 adiZero.

This was seen as a great coup for adidas, with Nike apparently losing one of their brightest young assets.

But against Stoke on Saturday, he was back to Nike and turned out in Mercurial Vapor VIII in green.

They are the eighth version of the
boot, first launched by Nike for the 1998 World Cup in France, when
Brazilian striker Ronaldo launched them to rival the market-leaders
adidas and their Predator boot. All Mercurial Vapor boots are made in
Soft Ground and Firm Ground varieties.

Martin
O'Neill recently became the latest manager to speak out against brightly
coloured boots and urged players to return to the old-style black
boots.

The Sunderland
manager said: 'When they were introduced, I remember Alan Ball wore a
pair of white boots. Of course, he thought he was a great player and, to
be fair, he was.

'But to wear really luminous boots you had to be a really good player, but nowadays you don’t have to be a good one to wear them.

Old school: Former Man united star – and now QPR boss – Mark Hughes said players used to have one pair of boots for the entire season

'I
would love if it came back to just wearing black boots. It would be
great. I wore black boots. I certainly wouldn’t have worn orange!

'Under Cloughie, we were allowed two pairs of boots every season and then you had to buy your own after that. Honestly.

'We
had to go down to a place in Nottingham called Redmayne & Todd with
a chit and buy your boots. And if the boots you wanted were more
expensive, you had to put some extra money to it. And we’d only won the
European Cup — twice.’

Other managers share O'Neill's views, including QPR boss Mark Hughes.

He
said: 'When I played you kept the one pair that you broke in and you
wanted to last for the season. At the moment it seems if the boot
company says you’ve got to wear green ones one week then you have to
wear green ones. It comes from the boot company rather than the player.'

Everton
boss David Moyes said: ‘I’m a traditionalist, so it is black boots for
me. If you are a centre half, you can’t wear anything other than black.'

And
Martin Jol, the Fulham manager, said: ‘I don’t like these flashy boots.
But I won’t be too critical. I don’t want a big wall between me and the
players. If they feel they should play in pink then they should. On the
other hand I always tell them that I feel they play better with black
boots. We always played in black boots.'

Balotelli's back! Mario recovers from eye surgery in time to face Stoke and Real

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UPDATED:

22:02 GMT, 13 September 2012

Mario Balotelli is fit for Manchester City’s crucial double-header against Stoke City and Real Madrid over the next four days.

The Italian striker raised fears for his immediate fitness after having laser surgery on an eye problem in Italy last week and there were suggestions he may be sidelined for a month.

Sight for sore eyes: Balotelli is back in business after an operation

But it is understood that the City
forward is fully recovered and available for tomorrow’s difficult trip
to Stoke in the Barclays Premier League and the tough game at Madrid in
the Champions League next Tuesday.

Balotelli has trained without a problem over the last couple of days and will be with the squad that travels to Staffordshire tonight.

Fellow centre forward Sergio Aguero is less likely to be involved. The Argentinean international is back in solitary training after suffering a knee injury on the opening Sunday of the season but has not yet joined in with his team-mates.

Meanwhile, City defender Micah Richards has revealed he hopes to be back in full training in two weeks after suffering an ankle injury playing for Team GB in the Olympics.

Richards has yet to play this season and has competition for the right-back slot from Pablo Zabaleta and new signing Maicon.

Fill her up: Mario is ready to face Stoke and Real Madrid in the coming days

Ainslie is threatening to break into a smile as he bids for fourth gold

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UPDATED:

21:21 GMT, 28 July 2012

Ben Ainslie admits he might have to shed his Mr Grumpy image, if he wins his fourth Olympic sailing gold medal next Sunday.

As he embarks today on the challenge that he hopes will complete his hat-trick of Finn class wins as well as a fourth Olympic title, the 35-year-old said: ‘Even I might smile a little if I win in Weymouth.’

Ainslie, who first stood on top of the Olympic podium after winning the Laser class at Sydney in 2000, is a notoriously spiky and single-minded character.

Hard to please: Ben Ainslie thinks only of winning

So much so, in fact, that, at the end of one race in last year’s world championship at Perth, he dived into the sea then swam across to the boat of a TV crew covering the event. He climbed aboard and confronted the skipper and a cameraman, accusing them of impeding his progress.

He was overall leader at the time but was disqualified for his flash of temper.

‘I felt pretty hard done by but at least it fuelled my intentions even more for Weymouth,’ he said. ‘It’s tough being me sometimes because my expectations are so great. That’s why when I win my emotion is relief far more than happiness.’

One more gold would see him overtake Dane Paul Elvstrom, winner of four between 1948-60, as the most successful sailor in Olympic history, Ainslie having started his medal-winning run with silver in the Laser class at Atlanta in 1996.

Done it before: Ainslie has three Olympics gold medals already

Elvstrom did not have the luxury of a home Olympics. Ainslie does and he makes no secret about which gold medal would mean the most.

‘I can try to convince everyone that it’s just another Olympics but it’s not,’ he said. ‘I still need to treat it with the same approach. But it will mean much more than any other because it’s here on English waters.’